Black markets for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 6 in China were thriving immediately after the official launch, but they seem to be cooling down now. The black market value of the phone is coming down due to the iPhone 6 pouring in from Hong Kong Apple stores, says a report from the South China Morning Post.
Sign up for our free daily newsletter
iPhone 6 margins narrow in black market
The market is dynamic for the iPhone 6 in China, where resellers are worried about the iPhone 6 losing value as more of them arrive from Hong Kong. For instance, a 16GB iPhone 6, which was selling for 8,000 Chinese yuan ($1,300) on Monday, came down to around 6000 Chinese yuan ($978) on Wednesday. In the United States, an unsubsidized 16GB iPhone is selling for $649 without a contract.
The Chinese black market for the iPhone 6 is relevant because of looming doubts about the availability of the phone in China. According to some reports, Chinese consumers will have to wait until 2015. Resellers will be earning profits in the wake of the huge popularity of the iPhone 6 Plus in China, but margins will keep on declining until the iPhone’s market value reaches $649.
[drizzle]Difficult to estimate shipments
Apple still has not given any clear reasons for the delay in China availability, but according to reports, the company is facing issues in getting the requisite license from China.
According to Stifel analysts, Apple is expected to sell 96.3 million iPhone, an increase of 13.6%, compared to 84.8 million in the same quarter last year. Last year, shipments of the combined quarters increased 13.5% year over year, “which leaves us to think about upside given our expectation of a stronger iPhone 6 product cycle,” the analysts wrote.
China was excluded from the list of countries where the iPhone 6 was launched in the first phase. Stifel analysts are “interested in thinking about our / Street combined September and December quarter estimates relative to a year ago,” as the iPhone 5S and 5C were launched in the first wave in China. Apple, as well as domestic telecom carriers, are facing the repercussions of the delay in China.
[/drizzle]
